This study was initiated to quantify the impact of those predators commonly found in Australian cotton fields and thereby reveal the importance of the various predatory species in Helicoverpa pest management. Trials to investigate the commercial feasibility of growing cotton under 'soft-option' strategies (that is, without pyrethroids or endosulfan) at 'Midkin' (Auscott Pty. Ltd., Moree) provided populations of Helicoverpa and predators for our comparisons. Field work was also conducted on organically-grown cotton at 'Alcheringa', near Boggabilla, and Wilby', near North Star. Unsprayed cotton from these sites and from research sites of the Australian Cotton Research Institute was also used, and these field studies were complemented with laboratory studies of predation carried out at the University of New England.